Thousands join Europe-wide protests over cuts

Tens of thousands of workers took to the streets of European cities today to protest at job cuts, public spending reductions and tax rises.

Waves of demonstrators marched through Brussels toward European Union buildings, aiming to reinforce the impact of Spain’s first nationwide strike in eight years.

Unions estimated the turnout in Brussels at 100,000 people. Some protesters there confronted riot squads with a sit-down protest in the middle of the street. About 150 people were detained, some in scuffles with police.

Strikes or protests took place in Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Slovenia and Lithuania, all aimed at the austerity plans that European governments have implemented to try to control their debt.

The march in Brussels came as the EU Commission proposed new penalties to punish member states that have run up deficits.

The proposal, backed by Germany, was running into strong opposition from France, which wants elected politicians, not rigid accounting rules, to decide on what sanctions big spending countries should face.

“It is a bizarre time for the European Commission to be proposing a regime of punishment,” said John Monks, general secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation. “How is that going to make the situation better? It is going to make it worse.”

Unions fear workers will become the biggest victims of an economic crisis set off by bankers and traders, many of whom were rescued by massive government intervention.

“There is a great danger that the workers are going to be paying the price for the reckless speculation that took place in financial markets,” Monks said. “You really got to reschedule these debts so that they are not a huge burden on the next few years and cause Europe to plunge down into recession.”

Today’s strike in Spain was the country’s first general strike since 2002 and marked a break in the once-close relationship between unions and the Socialist government.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero’s government is under severe pressure because of unpopular measures put in place to save Europe’s fourth-largest economy from a bailout like one that saved Greece from bankruptcy in May.

The cuts have helped Spain trim its central government deficit by half through July but the unemployment rate still stands at a shocking 20 %, and many businesses are struggling to survive.

Whistle-blowing picketers blocked trucks from delivering produce to wholesale markets in Madrid and Barcelona. Strikers hurled eggs and screamed “scabs” at drivers trying to leave a city bus garage in Madrid. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights at Spanish airports.

In Greece, which had to be rescued this spring by the 15 other euro zone nations to stave off bankruptcy, bus and trolley drivers walked off the job for several hours and Athens’ metro and tram systems also shut down. National railway workers also walked out, disrupting rail connections across the country, while doctors at state hospitals went on a 24-hour strike.

Greece has already been suffering from two weeks of protests by truck drivers who have made it difficult for businesses to get supplies. Many supermarkets are seeing shortages.

Greece’s Socialist government has imposed stringent austerity measures, including cutting civil servants’ salaries, trimming pensions and hiking consumer and income taxes.

Some 400 protesters rallied in an illegal demonstration in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius to demand authorities drop harsh austerity measures such as salary cuts.

In Slovenia, thousands of public service workers continued their open-ended strike to protest the government’s plan to freeze their salaries for two years - or until economy grows again at a rate of 3%.

Unions in Portugal expected some 30,000 people to show up for demonstrations later.